__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

How Do You Protect Them?

Monday morning my parents were out of town, so my neighbor and I decided to get our kids together and let them bounce at once of those blow up bounce places.  We had been there a while and I saw Addison walking hand in hand with another little girl... Ok, Miss Social has made a friend I thought to myself.

Not long after that Jadon exited a bouncer and ran over excited, "I made a new friend.  Her name is Ally."  I saw two little girls and said, "Hello Ally."  She didn't really give me much notice and then the two girls ran off.  Jadon didn't follow so I thought that was the end.

Right before we were getting ready to leave I saw Jadon sitting across the room on the edge of a bouncer crying.  I knew he wasn't hurt or he would be seeking me out.  I was confused because... he always seeks me out when crying.  I picked him up and asked what was wrong...

"Nobody likes me."  sobbing tears..
"Baby, why do you say that""
"The girl in the green shirt (Ally's friend) said her name isn't Ally and told me to go away.  Nobody likes me."

It's hard to convey in text how upset he was and how my heart was breaking for him.  I struggled for what to say.  He is the most amazingly sweet and loving little boy on the planet and he was crushed.  Do I bad mouth the girl to make him feel better?  Do I tell him that's life and not everyone will like him?  Do I just tell him how special he is?  How do I fix this??????

My Mom always said, "It's so hard for a mother to tell her child how wonderful he/she is when the rest of the world is telling them something different."

Someone was telling Jadon he wasn't ok... how do I convince him that isn't true???

In the end, I held him and told him about all the people who do like him... his brother and sisters, the neighbors who came to play with us, all his friends from school, his old neighbors, etc.

Kids can be so mean and cruel.  How do you convince kids they just have to survive childhood and things will get easier?  How do you convince them they are wonderful when the world is telling them otherwise?

This isn't the 1st time someone has been mean.  Kaylee ran into some mean girls at a party one time and Addison has been turned away when trying to make friends before and every time it just breaks my heart.

How do you protect them???  How do you build their self-esteem??  How do you convince them the world is wrong because THEY ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING KIDS and they are loved beyond words or comprehension.

DSC_6201
DSC_6159  DSC_6190 
DSC_6183

6 comments:

  1. I can only imagine how heart-breaking that was for you (and Jadon), but it sounds like you came up with the right words.

    Growing up can be so hard...and I'm sure even harder to watch from a parent's perspective.

    On another note, I love your new tagline and the new look of your blog! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't know what you do because kids are mean. I've often worried about my niece because she is sooooo loving and good but kids are mean and I just don't want her to get sucked into the mean girls club. Ugh. But you've got such cuties.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww, poor little guy! I think you said just what was needed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the message on my blog! I am trying to soak up all the time with the kids because I am already finding that it goes too quickly. Your kids are growing up to be beautiful/handsome. You are also so talented at taking pictures. I am going to take a class next week about how to get better pictures of the kids. I hope it helps. :) I love seeing what your family is going through and I am sure I will check back in the future when my kids go through what yours are currently experiencing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tracy...I'm the worst commenter ever, I'm so sorry! Just know that you are in my feed, and I don't miss a post. Every pic you take just blows me away with it's color and clarity. I know I've said it before...but you certainly have a recognizable look to your photos. Fabulous!

    And YAY for the new blog header!! I love it! ♥

    (Oh, and as for your post - ugh! Kids can be so cruel! I've only had to deal with that once, thank goodness. I'm such a sensitive person, and it just breaks my heart. Drew (Kindergarten), ran into some 4th grade twin boys on the playground one time...he said they said he was "boring.") Ugh! I could have died. Drew is the life of the party and has a million friends! But of course a Kindergartner would be boring to 4th graders. I had to explain that to him... :-(

    ReplyDelete
  6. My kids are 2 and 3 and I have not had to deal with this yet but it sounds like you said the right things. Oh and as always, great photos.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.